EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius proposed signing a new intergovernmental treaty on a European defense union, Euractiv reports. According to him, such an alliance could be created along the lines of the Schengen Agreement.
Kubilius said the new defense union should prepare Europe for self-defense as US interests shift toward the Indo-Pacific region. In his view, the treaty should include not only EU countries, but also the United Kingdom, Norway, and Ukraine. The European Union’s existing agreements, the commissioner believes, are not suitable for creating a full-fledged military bloc on the continent.
This initiative was first voiced at the start of her second term by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, alongside plans to increase defense spending, production capacity, and coordination among EU states. However, as Euractiv notes, defense policy still remains the responsibility of national governments.
In early April, Donald Trump again said that he was seriously considering withdrawing the United States from NATO. The politician called the alliance a “paper tiger” and pointed to the lack of support in the war with Iran. In addition, media reports said that the US wants to exclude from key decision-making those allies in the bloc that spend less than 5% of GDP on defense.
Against this backdrop, European countries stepped up work on a “Plan B” in case the US leaves the bloc or significantly reduces its collective defense commitments, WSJ wrote. At the same time, journalists emphasized that there is still no talk of creating an alternative to the bloc.